Law firms warn of 'exodus' of criminal defence solicitors if legal aid fee scheme remains unchanged

Solicitors have accused justice minister Jim O’Callaghan of not engaging and described the new legal aid scheme as 'unworkable'.

Solicitors have warned there could be an “exodus” of criminal defence solicitors if the new legal aid scheme remains unchanged.

Major disruption to criminal cases is set to continue as striking solicitors escalated their dispute with the justice minister over district court legal aid scheme reforms introduced in July.

Warnings of case backlogs and the effect on vulnerable people involved in court cases have been issued, as the strike extended to cases where someone is in custody, as well as the High Court and Circuit Court.

Solicitors have accused justice minister Jim O’Callaghan of not engaging and described the new legal aid scheme as “unworkable”.

“If this scheme stays as is, the strike is a snapshot of what the courts will look like in the future,” said Eoghan O’Sullivan, a partner at Powderly Solicitors, who is among the solicitors who have escalated the strike action.

He said some solicitors who had previously focused on criminal legal aid work had begun “diversifying their practices”.

Colleen Gildernew, a partner at KOD Lyons, said since the start of the dispute, seven young criminal defence solicitors had moved into other areas of practice. “These are seven people, younger than 40 and fewer than five years post-qualification. That represents an exodus from the profession and a brain drain,” she said.

At the Central Criminal Court on Monday, Ms Justice Karen Dowling told those in court “there won’t be any practitioners present” as a result of the escalating strike.

The cases before her were then either adjourned or people chose to represent themselves.

Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan introduced changes for the criminal legal aid system in July, replacing the per-appearance fee with a flat fee of €520.

The aim was to reduce the number of unnecessary adjournments and to encourage cases to conclude more quickly. However, solicitors have said the changes would require them to essentially work for free in complex cases where more than the average five appearances are required.

Mr O’Sullivan said the public sector strike last week showed when people “engage in respectful dialogue”, disruption could be averted.

"I think [Jim O’Callaghan] sees himself in position for a role beyond justice minister, and that he wants to be seen to take on the establishment and get that feather in his cap to move up the political ladder to become taoiseach.

“But that will be at the expense of the criminal legal aid system and that will be something the next minister has to come along and clean up."